The Worst Book Publishing/Marketing Tip I've Ever Read! Authors, please do not take this advice.

This
is NOT my status; I'm complaining about it. So please read all before jumping
in. This was a Twitter status from a man who has 7k followers; I am not one of them, thankfully. And though I don't usually get involved, I couldn't
resist.

If anything, we share readers! When a reader has read all my books, I recommend authors and books I believe they will like.

And, I
purposely share other authors' books on Twitter, Facebook, and even my website.

Why???

Because I can write four books a year;
my readers can read four a week! If I read and share authors in my genre, doesn't it make sense they will share their readers with me. So, in fact, we are helping ourselves by sharing other authors. Right?

For example: If I have a friend with ten thousand readers, who have never heard of Carmen DeSousa, but love my friend, what will they do when they finish her books? Have you seen those little images of booksbelow your books on Amazon? Have you noticed a trend? I have. On every one of my books, at least one of my friends' books are listed. There, that's all the proof you need.

And still another reason... Why would you alienate
yourself from other authors? Last time I checked, most if not all authors were
avid readers before they became authors. Even when I'm writing, I manage to
read a book or more a week. That's not going to change. Matter of fact, I have enough books on my Kindle to last me years, and yet, just this morning, I bought another one!

Please, authors, do not listen to this silly piece of advice!

Rant
over! Back to your regular broadcast, or read on for a little about me if you want to share my stories with your friends. I assure you, I'll share back. :)Until next time, happy reading and writing, friends!Carmen

Thank you for stopping by my place and reading my
musings. Remember, these are just my opinions and shouldn’t be
taken too seriously. If you have questions, please feel free to leave
them in the comment section, and I promise you I will answer. If you’re
curious about what I write, please visit one of my author pages, where
you can read all about my novels and short stories. And hey, I’ll even
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That is really bad advice. I can't believe he tweeted that. I completely disagree with him. I promo other authors all the time because you're right. I may only be able to write a few books a year but in my reading group there are people who read over 100 books last year.

Yes, horrible advice. Other authors are NOT my competitors; they're my colleagues. We're all in this together, and supporting one another is beneficial to us all.

Some of my most popular blog posts have been when I hosted or interviewed other authors. and when other authors are kind enough to host me, I do all I can to promote them and their blogs.

Some people seem to view readers as a finite resource, like a pie from which others are taking slices, a zero-sum game. I find this patently ridiculous. Yes, many book buyers are on a budget, but just because someone bought Carmen's book instead of mine this week doesn't mean they won't buy mine next week.

That is the most UNPROFESSIONAL tweet I've seen, and I've been on Twitter for a while. Goodness! Hard to believe someone would say that. Support is the name of the game, and some people don't realize this is a SMALL world. Thanks for the heads up, Carmen!

What complete WUBBISH. This is someone who's going at the whole thing bass ackwards. The truth is that interest in books cultivates interest in other books. Simple as that. We are all buoyed up by the success of the industry as a whole. We WANT readers to read. Does this guy honestly think there's anyone out there who is only going to read HIS book?

I like to think other authors are my friends. In fact, I've gotten some really great advice from some of my author friends on Facebook and Twitter. They have forwarded my book promotions as I have forwarded their book promotions. I think its a good idea to work as a team with your friends and let the reader decide which books they want to read.

You know what's really sad...he isn't even published yet. He's writing a book, but claims to be a publisher. As you've noticed, I don't write these types of posts, but I COULD NOT resit letting the world know--well, my world--that I DO NOT feel this way. The last thing I want readers to think is that we are in competition. I get mad just thinking about it again. Grrr... I mean, it's so simple. How can any of you possibly be my competition. This is the one job I've had that I do not feel that way. When one of my friends make it... Ex: Rachel Abbott hit #14 overall in the nation after being an Indie for years. I cheered, I shouted, shook my pom-poms, AND... I bought her book to further her. Yep, I'm not a supporter. I spend more time talking about other authors' books than my own. Cheers, all!

Sadly, I took him serious enough to write this post, encouraging other authors, especially aspiring authors, to ignore his ridiculous statement of "Truth". Grrrr... The other authors who read it unfollowed him immediately. Right after yelling at him. :) And the funny thing, he isn't even an author. His first book is on its way! Bio says publisher. Sigh! Thanks for stopping by, Amelia. I haven't seen you in a while. Hope all is well.

You are absolutely correct, Kate! In fact...when you're the one on top, you can pull other authors up beside you. I thought of another point the other day. If this ridiculous statement were true, would successful author give quotes for other authors to post on the cover of their books? No. But they do. I found one of my best author friends from the cover of a book. An author I read regularly posted a quote on her book, so I picked it up. And, viola! Now I read both of them and as I said, I've become great friends with the other too. In fact, she gave me a quote for my first bestseller. Hmm...I wish that silly man would catch wind of this stream. Thanks for stopping by. Have an awesome weekend. :)

I keep thinking of The Red Green Show..."Remember, we're all in this together." I love sharing great books I've read with other readers and I love hearing about books they've read by other authors. Whoever tweeted this doesn't know what the hell he is doing or talking about. ;o)

I know... Isn't it sad. I'd thought of another point after writing this. There's a reason even well-established writer write quotes for their peers. One, I think they must like the book, or they wouldn't put their name on it. But also, like minded readers will more that likely have an interest in their book if they liked the book too. Yes, their may be a little self-serving in sharing, but I enjoy it. I love when a reader tells an author I sent them their way. :)

Thanks for stopping by, Rebecca. Sorry I missed your comment. And yeah...it might have been me who shared a book. I post your books to my followers all the time. I think I'm going to go find that guy and see how he's faring with his 'tough truth' idea. :P

Remember when we used to have to wait to see our friends in school to tell all of them about something exciting that happened at the...

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